Hannah's Comm 101 Blog

I found a really interesting article about technology that most of us use everyday, Apple products. It discusses a mobile app that was banned from Apple’s app store just hours after it was released because it showed “the uglier side of electronics production.”

The game has the player as an animated character and takes them through real world situations like the violent colten mining in the Congo and the high suicide occurence in the iphone production factories in China.

This article brought up interesting questions like “do businesses have an obligation to make sure their products are made in a safe manner?”, “Should they care about the conditions for workers that make their products?” and “by buying materials from places like the Congo are they supporting the violence that surrounds the coltan trade?”

The article does say that Apple ensures “the highest standards of social responsibility wherever our products are made,” but obviously it is not enough because reports are still coming out about their controversial business partners. It is hard for me to say that I will never use an Apple product again since my iphone is my baby, but my eyes are definitely opened to Apple’s controversial ways.